Wellbores are formed in subterranean formations for various purposes including, for example, extraction of oil and gas from the subterranean formation and extraction of geothermal heat from the subterranean formation. Wellbores may be formed in a subterranean formation using a drill bit such as, for example, an earth-boring rotary drill bit. Different types of earth-boring rotary drill bits are known in the art including, for example, fixed-cutter bits (which are often referred to in the art as “drag” bits), rolling-cutter bits (which are often referred to in the art as “rock” bits), diamond-impregnated bits, and hybrid bits (which may include, for example, both fixed cutters and rolling cutters). The drill bit is rotated and advanced into the subterranean formation. As the drill bit rotates, the cutters or abrasive structures thereof cut, crush, shear, and/or abrade away the formation material to form the wellbore. A diameter of the wellbore drilled by the drill bit may be defined by the cutting structures disposed at the largest outer diameter of the drill bit.
The drill bit is coupled, either directly or indirectly, to an end of what is referred to in the art as a “drill string,” which comprises a series of elongated tubular segments connected end-to-end that extends into the wellbore from the surface of the formation. Often various tools and components, including the drill bit, may be coupled together at the distal end of the drill string at the bottom of the wellbore being drilled. This assembly of tools and components is referred to in the art as a “bottom-hole assembly” (BHA).
The drill bit may be rotated within the wellbore by rotating the drill string from the surface of the formation, or the drill bit may be rotated by coupling the drill bit to a downhole motor, which is also coupled to the drill string and disposed proximate the bottom of the wellbore. The downhole motor may comprise, for example, a hydraulic Moineau-type motor having a shaft, to which the drill bit is mounted, that may be caused to rotate by pumping fluid (e.g., drilling mud or fluid) from the surface of the formation down through the center of the drill string, through the hydraulic motor, out from nozzles in the drill bit, and back up to the surface of the formation through the annular space between the outer surface of the drill string and the exposed surface of the formation within the wellbore.
Spalls and cracks in the conventional polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) cutting structures employed, for example, in fixed cutter and hybrid rotary drill bits and other drilling tools are a common problem when drilling with such cutting structures. Spalling in PDC tables of such cutting structures can greatly reduce the effectiveness of drill bits and other drilling tools and often renders a PDC table unusable such that the cutting structure including the PDC table must be completely replaced before the drill bit or other drilling tool is employed in another drilling operation.